Zoi A Giavri
Advantis Medical Imaging, Greece
Title: Diffusion tensor tractography of memory-related white matter tracts in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Biography
Biography: Zoi A Giavri
Abstract
Neuropathological studies support the presence of hippocampal alterations in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), even when frank dementia is not present. These changes also involve Perforant Pathway Zone (PPZ), are more pronounced in later disease neuropathological stages and may partially explain the heterogeneity of patients’ memory profile (traditionally related to frontal-related dysfunction). We aimed to investigate structural changes in vivo in memory-related white matter (WM) tracts [i.e. perforant pathway zone (PPZ); uncinate fasciculus (UF); fornix (Fx)] using diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) in non-demented patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Forty-two ALS patients and 25 healthy controls (HC) underwent a 30-directional diffusion-weighted imaging on a 3T MR scanner, followed by tractography of PPZ, UF and Fx and analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA), axial and radial diffusivity (Da, Dr). After correcting for multiple comparisons, DTT statistical analyses revealed significant between-group differences on Dr for left PPZ (p=0.002). Differences corresponding to medium effect sizes (and of nominal, Bonferroni-unadjusted significance) were detected on FA and Da for left PPZ, Da and Dr for left UF, Da for right UF and all Fx DTT metrics. Advanced neuroimaging techniques verified in this study previously reported neuropathological findings regarding PPZ degeneration in ALS.